Facebook message saves suicidal boy

A suicidal teenager from Oxford has been saved after a friend on the Facebook website living in America alerted police.

The 16-year-old boy had sent a private message to the girl in Maryland stating that he was going to kill himself.

The friend alerted her mother who contacted local police in America who, through the British Embassy in Washington DC, then raised the alarm with the Metropolitan Police. The Met then contacted Thames Valley Police in the early hours of Thursday.

Police staff searched electoral roll websites and found eight potential addresses for the teenager and dispatched officers to each one.

The boy was found alive but suffering from a drugs overdose and was taken by ambulance to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford where he made a full recovery.

Oxfordshire police commander chief superintendent Brendan O'Dowda told the Oxford Mail newspaper: "When it did find its way to Thames Valley Police, it would have been quite easy for any number of people to decide there wasn't enough information.

"But due to the tenacity and professionalism of a number of people, we managed to pin down a number of addresses, then went through the painful and laborious process of visiting the addresses to find the lad.

"It took up time and effort but it was time and effort absolutely well spent."